The legacy of Major League Baseball players is determined by several factors.

Among them: How long did they play? What kind of statistical record did they produce? It’s a business, you know, so how much money did they earn?

What usually seals the deal, though, is whether they win a championship.

Not a divisional title nor a pennant.

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The World Series.

For all the money in the game, and all the pulling together of statistical data, “the ring” still remains a determining factor.

When you read about great players such as Ted Williams or Tony Gwynn or Barry Bonds or Ken Griffey Jr, relatively high up is a mention they never played on a World Series championship club.

It is the missing element some of baseball’s all-time great players have endured while other far lesser players sit before them flashing gaudy World Series championship rings.

The Tigers have an unusual number of veteran players, some of them premier talent of their generation, who have yet to be part of a World Series championship team.

Their stories so far are about coming so close, yet being so far away.

These are their stories entering in the American League Division Series opener Thursday at Baltimore. Hopefully, it will provide some perspective about why the Tigers should be very motivated this postseason:

Ian Kinsler – There will be a touch of irony as the Tigers face Baltimore. In the Orioles’ outfield will be Nelson Cruz, who destroyed the Tigers in the 2011 American League Championship Series for Texas by hitting six home runs. Cruz also misplayed David Freese’s fly ball, which generated a comeback by the St. Louis Cardinals in the ‘11 World Series over Kinsler’s Rangers. It was the second year in a row the Rangers lost the World Series. Kinsler, 32, is a four-time All Star. He has been an excellent postseason player with a .311 batting average and .905 OPS, both well above his regular season marks. It would seem he deserves a World Series title, doesn’t it?

Torii Hunter – During his career, Hunter has won nine Gold Glove Awards, two Silver Slugger Awards, garnered more than 2,300 career hits and 331 home runs. He is a borderline Hall of Famer. Yet, he has never played in a World Series. Remember the plunge Hunter took over the right field wall at Fenway Park last year on David Ortiz’s disastrous grand slam off Joaquin Benoit in the ’13 ALCS? Said a lot, didn’t it, about his hunger for the “ring.” Hunter’s postseason numbers are similar to those for the regular season, except for last year when he slumped mightily in his first postseason appearance with the Tigers. Will it be different this year? He was a much better player the second half of this season than the first.

Joe Nathan – This year, Nathan became the Tigers’ player fans most loved to hate. But all will be forgiven and forgotten if he comes through in the postseason. His playoff track record is not good, though. Nathan is one of the top closers in MLB history (seventh all time with 376 saves), but to say he has struggled in the postseason would be an understatement. His ERA in the postseason is nine, his WHIP 2.44 and he has just one postseason save.

David Price – For one of the top pitchers of his era, Price has surprisingly come up short in the postseason. He was very good as a rookie reliever for the Rays in 2008, but as a starter, his playoff record is surprisingly poor (0-4, 5.81 ERA). The Red Sox scored seven earned runs in seven innings off Price in his most recent postseason appearance in last year’s ALDS.

Justin Verlander – After a slow start, Verlander has become a top-line postseason pitcher. He won the deciding Game 5 twice on the road at Oakland, with brilliant performances each time, in the ALDS in ’12 and ’13. However, the World Series remains his final frontier. Verlander is 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA in three World Series starts.

Max Scherzer – In 2013, Scherzer was the AL Cy Young Award winner. That fact alone puts in him MLB’s version of rarified air. Scherzer has been outstanding in the ALDS, but not-so-great in the ALCS and World Series. We’ll see what pending free agent has in what could be his last shot with the Tigers.

About the Author

Pat Caputo has written as a beat writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press since 1984 and blogs at http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/. Reach the author at pat.caputo@oakpress.com
or follow Pat on Twitter: @PatCaputo98.